10 Great Fictional Reads for the Summer

Wish You Were Here? Summer in the Alps

At Home with…Claire {Clarina’s Contemplations}

Where actually has all the sunshine gone? I think you northerners must have pinched it! We’ve been shrouded in this horrible freezing fog all week and I’m really beginning to wish for January to end and Spring to be a little closer than it actually is. We’ve had decorators in the house this week, meaning that my ‘Playroom to Snug’ transformation is at last becoming more than just a Pinterest board. More on that to come. We had our wood burning stove installed last weekend and it has been an absolute God-send in this cold weather. Loving it already. Want to know what else I’ve been loving this week? Read Buying a Red magazine is one of life’s little pleasures. I used to have… View Post

Let’s just get one thing straight before we kick off…I am no domestic goddess. Phew, I just wanted to make sure that we’re all well aware of the facts and that I’m not misleading anyone. So why a post about ‘hearty winter soups’? I hear you ask. Well if there ever was a time that you needed something to warm you up, this would be it. It’s been flipping freezing this last week! If you hadn’t guessed, creating tasty winter soups is my new ‘thing’ at the moment. If you’ve been following my nonsensical ramblings for some time now, you will know that I tend to have a ‘thing’ and go all out for a short while, until I find something new to obsess over.… View Post

What a wonderfully, cold and frosty week it’s been down here in deepest darkest Berkshire. I know that some of you have had rain so I’m sorry to rub your nose in it but breathing in that crisp, fresh air has been so welcome after the thick depressing fog of last week. We’ve also had sunshine, making for the most stunning photographs. I’ve taken to stopping my car whenever/wherever I can to get a snap. All this beauty is free folks! We really should make the most of it. I’ll stop gushing about nature for a minute and continue with my #littleloves for this week. By the way, if you’re new here, Little Loves is a linky hosted by Morgana from Coffee,… View Post

All we needed was the excuse of a 50th birthday, and one Gin Cocktail Masterclass was booked. With three months to look forward to the event, Sunday 15th January couldn’t come soon enough. If ever there was a gin-lover’s paradise, I think that this place would be it – the Bombay Sapphire Gin Distillery in Whitchurch, near Basingstoke. Before registering we were greeted by this amazing building. If only it hadn’t been pouring down with rain! Not long in and our heads were quickly turned by the venue for our cocktail-making masterclass. A true vision in purple… We had booked a tour of the gin distillery as well as the masterclass and I would highly recommend both. The girl running our masterclass… View Post

Welcome to Friday! It’s been a quiet kind of week my end with nothing amazing to report. Sometimes those weeks are a blessing aren’t they? I’ve been practicing my One Word for this year which is ‘Release‘ by purchasing fleecy PJs and allowing myself to cosy up of an evening. Perfect for all this snow that was forecast (*cough* what snow?!). Ooh, I’ve also been doing really well on our alcohol ban. Just for the record, I don’t drink much but having a cheeky glass of an evening (every evening) was becoming rather a habit at the end of last year. So we decided that come 1st January (I thought for the whole 365 days, the husband thought just January…) we would have no alcohol at home… View Post

Welcome

Hey there, thanks for dropping by. I'm Suzanne and Inside, Outside & Beyond is my quest to find out if there is 'life after the school run'. With all three children now at secondary school, it's time to find me...the coffee-loving, shoe-obsessed (you can never have too many, right?) 40-something me, who loves a new challenge and is a little bit addicted to over-sharing. Join me?

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